Even though I’m not an audiophile, I have a good taste in audio products. Previously, I’ve reviewed the OnePlus Bullets Wireless on OnePlus Forums as well as on Mobigyaan.com. Later, I ended up reviewing the OnePlus Bullets Wireless 2 on OnePlus Forums. All of them were well received by the audience. Today, I’m here to review new headphones by Mixcder – the Mixcder E10. I’ve been using it for past two weeks and here are my thoughts on the same.
Unboxing
The unboxing experience for the Mixcder E10 was pretty good. Everything was packed in a simple box which can be seen in the image posted below. Once you open the box, you find the carrying case and everything was packed inside that carrying case – which in my opinion, is perfect.
The carrying case seems to be made of fake leather or look-alike leather material. It is semi-hard shell which is good enough to protect the headphones and the accessories. I was just expecting it to have a soft carrying pouch. So, this was a pleasant surprise and I liked it.
Opening up that carrying case, we are greeted with the headphones itself along with a small plastic bag for some accessories. There’s a strap in the centre which protects the headphones from moving around or falling off while opening the case. This strap also makes it a bit difficult to take out the headphones but it’s worth it for the extra protection.
The plastic bag consists of the user manual, the warranty information piece, a micro-USB charging cable, a flight adapter and the 3.5mm cable for wired audio. All this is great, but I would have loved it more if there was no use of the plastic bag. Instead, there can be a small mesh pouch on the other half of the carrying case to put down all the accessories. Also, having a USB Type-C charging port would have made it a better deal – especially in 2020.
That’s all for the unboxing part and overall, I was satisfied. There was nothing I could really complain about – especially when I took the price into consideration.
Build & Design
Mixcder E10’s design is pretty much like other headphones in the market. And that’s necessarily not a bad thing. It’s mostly built of plastic but it’s quite strong. I’ve tried stretching it but was unable to hear any creaking sound.
The left side of the headphones is left clean except a micro-USB port. All the buttons exist only on the right earcup. Yes, there are buttons and no touch controls. But you should know that you can’t get everything at this price point. There’s a power button, a skip forward/previous track button which also works as volume rockers and an ANC button.
Two LEDs also exist on the right earcup – one near the Power button and another near the ANC button. The LED near the ANC will turn on when the ANC is turned on and it will turn off while the ANC is off. The one near the power button will flash red and blue colours while it’s in pairing mode. Once connected, it’ll keep flashing blue. Also, note that the LEDs would slowly flash blue while it’s searching for the previously connected device.
The power button can be used to pause or play songs by clicking it once. Clicking on the skip forward/previous buttons once would increase/decrease the volume. Pressing and holding the same buttons would either go to the next song or the previous song. Clicking on ANC button once would either turn off or turn on ANC. Unfortunately, there’s no way that we can activate Google Assistant through Mixcder E10.
If you are wondering about how to get the headphones into pairing mode, just press and hold the power button while turning on the headphones until it starts flashing blue and red.
Comfort & Convenience
If headphones have the BEST sound quality but no comfort, one won’t be able to use them for long period of time. Fortunately, the Mixcder E10 is plenty comfortable. They weigh around 300 grams which is slightly on the higher end. However, they are well balanced, and we don’t feel that weight once they are on.
The earcups have enough cushioning on them and they do feel comfortable. But during longer sessions, I do feel that the earcups end up touching my ears or staying on the ears which makes it a bit uncomfortable. I’ll have to adjust them every once in a while or take them off after 2-3 hours of usage for a few minutes to give some rest to my ears. Having slightly larger earcups would have definitely helped here.
The cushioning on the top is sufficient enough and I’ve zero complains there. It doesn’t feel uncomfortable on the head. However, the clamping force is a bit too strong even after using it for about 2 weeks. But it’s alright as it enables the headphones to stay in place even during vigorous head movements.
The earcups on the Mixcder E10 do swivel and fold which makes it comfortable to carry around even without the carrying case. However, they lack the multi-connect feature. It won’t connect directly to another device unless you disconnect it from the connected device. Having that would have made it much more useful as we can easily switch between connected devices. But I didn’t expect it to have that feature at this price.
Sound Quality
If a pair of headphones have the best build quality, comfort as well as the battery life but don’t sound well, would you buy it? Obviously not. Don’t worry as these aren’t one of those and you can totally buy them. They don’t sound perfect, but they sound good enough. Also, note that there are no syncing delays on YouTube with these headphones – thanks to Bluetooth 5.0 and the aptX-LL technology.
If you’re someone who loves bass, then this is a great pair of headphones for you. Also, they will get extremely loud at 100 percent volume. Majority of my usage ranged from using them at 40% volume for casual listening to 80% volume for complete immersion. Most of the surrounding noise will be blocked out when you’re listening to the songs at 60-70% volume.
At 100 percent volume level, they do end up sounding sharper. But just turn it down by a few points and you’ll be able to get a great experience. I’m not a bass-head and I prefer having vocals loud and clear. And for most part, they were. I did listen to some podcasts too and they do a great job for that as well.
The ANC on this pair of headphones is definitely not the best in the market. It blocks out the hiss and hum around you but not vocals. It’s mainly cutting down the lower range of sounds around you – which is great on a flight. So, the ANC is there, and it works – it’s not just a marketing term used here. I haven’t been able to test them on a flight yet but when I do, I’ll be updating the review with the same.
Battery Life
These pair of headphones last so long that it has been a pain to drain the battery completely. I’ve just charged them once since I received them and I’m currently having them on my ears trying to drain the battery – even while writing this review. Even though I’ve charged them once, that wasn’t from 0 to 100. After a few hours of listening to songs, I did manage to completely drain them and perform the full recharge test. And I’m glad to say that the battery went from 0 to 100 in 44 minutes and 48 seconds. That’s crazy fast!
The battery backup though has been great. They’ll easily last for over 12-hours with ANC on. I’ll be updating the review with the exact number soon. Also, note that I’ve had them on my ears without listening to any songs – which would’ve also consumed quite a bit of battery due to ANC.
Sure, they might not be able to reach the 30-hour claimed battery with ANC turned on, but they are still great for the price. Also, note that this is at random volume level – sometimes being 40-50% and sometimes being 70-80%.
If you even run out of battery, you don’t need to worry much as you’ll still be able to listen to songs by using the 3.5mm audio cable. Note that you won’t be able to use ANC if you’ve completely run out of juice. In case you have juice remaining in the tank, you’ll also be able to use the ANC even while using wired audio – which is great. Note that the buttons do not work while being in wired mode.
Price
So, if you didn’t already notice, every section had a little focus on the price. But there’s a reason for that. The MSRP which is mentioned on Mixcder’s site is $139.99. At that price, this is a good pair of headphones. But it sells for $112.99 on their site right now – which makes it a better deal. However, at the time of writing this, they are currently sold out.
Now, what makes it a great deal is the current pricing on Amazon. It sells for $89.99 at the time of writing this with an additional 5% off by using a coupon. Now, at that price, this is a great pair of headphones. It offers good build quality, comfort, sound quality and battery life at that price point. It’s not the perfect pair of headphones and you would be crazy if you expected them to be. However, they are great for what they’re priced at.
Note that they also come with ANC at $89.99. Even though it’s not the best ANC pair of headphones, they are definitely great for someone who is just trying to buy a pair of ANC headphones under budget. I have personally liked them for what they offer for the price.
Conclusion
My opinions on the headphones might be already clear to you if you’ve read the entire review till now. If they aren’t or if you’ve just scrolled down to the conclusion part, then here’s a wrap up of my thoughts.
The build quality, comfort, sound quality and battery life – all this aren’t perfect. However, they are absolutely great when the price is taken into consideration. Sure, there are a few things which can be done in a better way. There can be a mesh like pouch on the other side of the carrying case. There can be a USB Type-C port for charging. There can be larger earcups. There can be better sound quality and ANC. There can be better battery life. But with all this, there will be a larger price tag to them.
What I would want in the next version is larger earcups, a USB Type-C port and a mesh-like pouch in the carrying case. If that can be done with a slightly higher price tag of around $150-160 as MSRP, then it would be a great deal. And if these upgrades come to Amazon at $100-110, then it will just be an amazing deal.
I could have asked for the sound quality, ANC as well as the battery life to be better. But they’re already good enough for the price. And one can easily live with what it currently offers in those departments. However, the reduction of plastic usage, better comfort as well as a Type-C port are something which are more important today.
Sure, if they end up upgrading everything and can still keep the price low, I would love it. But I just wanted to be reasonable as I understand that including everything cannot be economically feasible. If and when the next pair of these headphones come out, I would love to test them and put them against the Mixcder E10.
That’s all for this review. Let me know whether you liked it or not in the comments below. Also, let me know if there are any competitors you would like to get reviewed here. I’ll try to get them done. My first review was of the dbrand Grip and you can check it out here.
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